I want to pick up on my last post by again looking at the pair of deer attributed to Samuel Hall that John Howard sold. In talking to John, he noted that the deer were on the same base as a lion model he has had in stock in the past and that Andrew Dando currently has on his web site. You can see Andrew's lion and John's deer below.
John concluded that, based on the fact that the lion is on the same distinctive base as the Hall deer, it was also made by Hall. I believe he is right.
Hall made a limited range of figures, but he had an affinity for lions. I have recorded small lions that I attribute to Hall, as well as large ones. The lion below titled WALLACE has bocage flowers that confirm a Hall attribution. I believe this lion would have been made around 1828, when the lions Wallace and Nero were baited.
Hall made a limited range of figures, but he had an affinity for lions. I have recorded small lions that I attribute to Hall, as well as large ones. The lion below titled WALLACE has bocage flowers that confirm a Hall attribution. I believe this lion would have been made around 1828, when the lions Wallace and Nero were baited.
The distinctive bocage flowers on this lion are shaped like a star with six points. You can also see them below on a marked Hall Elijah, courtesy of a very kind collector.
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And here those flowers are again on a small pair of felines that I attribute to Hall. I think of Hall as a sloppy potter. The finer points didn't seem to matter to Hall. Note how the little felines below have the ends of their paws painted blue to appear as if on a ball. Unlike other potters, Hall didn't bother making a lovely round ball and placing the paw upon it.
Subtle nuances often suggest a Hall attribution. Hall favored red and blue bocage flowers, as you see in the figures above, and, he sometimes gave the flowers large yellow centers. The glaze on Hall figures is hard and bright, and the overall standard of workmanship is...well, let's just say it could be better!
Hall is thought to have been potting from 1818 until the 1850s. He made early Staffordshire figures, but he also made figures into the Victorian period. Change in any industry is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, and so clay bodies whitened slowly over the nineteenth century. To top it, our assessment of whiteness is a subjective judgement. John Howard noted that the deer figures he sold had quite white bodies, and, for that reason, he dates them at around 1840.
Hall is thought to have been potting from 1818 until the 1850s. He made early Staffordshire figures, but he also made figures into the Victorian period. Change in any industry is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, and so clay bodies whitened slowly over the nineteenth century. To top it, our assessment of whiteness is a subjective judgement. John Howard noted that the deer figures he sold had quite white bodies, and, for that reason, he dates them at around 1840.
